Speaking at KCDC

I will be participating in, and speaking at the 2014 Kansas City Developer’s Conference May 15, 16, 17. I’m actually doing three sessions this year. An all-day “pre-compiler” and two regular talks. My pre-compiler was sold out for a time, but we’ve expanded the capacity slightly, and now there is room for more. But you may want to sign up soon, as the number of available seats is limited.

Full Day Pre-Compiler: Lean Product Flow for Agile Teams

Whether you are trying Scrum, Kanban, or a hybrid approach, a critical component to successful value delivery is your teams’ ability to iterate and work incrementally. Small increments and iteration allow for organic product enhancement to emerge.

This workshop will include material on work-in-progress, flow, and how to break work down to small, incremental slices. We will spend time learning about small vs. large batch development, writing good user stories with acceptance tests, and managing project scope intelligently with tools like story maps. We will practice with mock requirements; creating real user stories, acceptance criteria, and story maps. We will also play games and simulations to better understand the flow of customer value.

Learning goals:
– How to break work down in to smaller “chunks”.

– How to achieve “flow” in our team or organization.

– The principles behind Lean, Kanban, and Lean Startup and how they apply to Agile organizations.

Workshop is ideal for developers, analysts, testers, product owners, and development managers. Prior Agile experience is useful, but not necessary.

Session #1: Beyond Agile Practices: Where Did We Go Wrong?

Have you tried an Agile transformation/adoption at your organization with less-than-desired success? Where did it go wrong? Are people just not “getting” Agile? Did you find your organizational culture not conducive to Agile? We will explore concepts from Complexity Theory, Systems Thinking, and Lean in this unconventional and interactive Lean-Agile session and apply those models to our real-world Agile challenges. With a better understanding of the more subtle (but important) dynamics in software development and human systems, you will have the knowledge and tools for better organizational improvement.

Session #2: Delight Your Customers: The No Estimates Way

The recent #noestimates conversation in the Agile software community has created quite a stir in the software world. What exactly does a “no estimates” approach entail, and how does it work? Are teams really not estimating? Heretics! This session will explore the theory behind the movement, and practical approaches to better planning, happier teams, and delighted customers. Come with your questions and experience. But most importantly, come with an open mind. Fresh content guaranteed!